It’s the Economy, Stupid!

With
marijuana prohibition costing the U.S. government billions of valuable tax
dollars annually. The societal costs of
propagandizing against marijuana and marijuana law reform, funding
anti-marijuana 'science', interdicting marijuana, eradicating domestically
grown marijuana and industrial hemp, law enforcement, prosecuting and
incarcerating marijuana smokers costs U.S. taxpayers in excess of $12 billion
annually. Marijuana legalization offers an important advantage over
decriminalization in that it allows for legal distribution and taxation of
cannabis. In the absence of taxation, the free market price of legal marijuana
would be extremely low, on the order of five to ten cents per joint. In terms
of intoxicating potential, a joint is equivalent to at least $1 or $2 worth of
alcohol, the price at which cannabis is currently sold in the Netherlands. The
easiest way to hold the price at this level under legalization would be by an
excise tax on commercial sales. An examination of the external costs imposed by
cannabis users on the rest of society suggests that a "harmfulness
tax" of $.50 - $1 per joint is appropriate. It can be estimated that
excise taxes in this range would raise between $2.2 and $6.4 billion per year.
Altogether, legalization would save the taxpayers around $8 - $16 billion, not
counting the economic benefits of hemp agriculture and other spinoff
industries.